I managed to fit in the February 12th Garden Club meeting into my schedule; the topic that day was Bonsai. Although I love gardening, that is one aspect I never thought I would want to try. The Presenter was Michael Devlin whose talk and show and tell kept us all engaged. He brought in several different creations - one he had nurtured for 40 years.

He started out by stating that Bonsai should not be given as a gift to extremely busy people and I suppose that's a category I am in.

So here are a few tips I picked up.

You know a Bonsai needs to be repotted if you stick a chopstick in the soil and it has problem going down.

Repotting should be done every 2-3 years. You will trim away a good portion of the root system.

You can train the tree by using clamps and wiring. This should be done in April -September.

During November-February fertilizer should not be used since the plants need to rest.

So where can you find Bonsai locally? At The Phantom Gardenerin Rhinebeck. Mr. Devlin will also be doing a presentation there on October 19th.

The Old Dutch Village Garden Club is a great place for garden lovers and also a place to meet others from the community. This is a place where visitors are always welcome and at the end of the meeting there are refreshments. The members take turns hosting this.

So, here is the rest of the schedule for the year. I hope you will find a topic that interests you.

March 12th 2009- Japanese Flower Arranging in today's home for today's occasions - Frances Szasz

The garden Club is very involved with the community, the members help maintain the village parks and the annual plant and bake sale not only provides plants at a reasonable price for local gardeners but the money raised also helps support a yearly scholarship given to a Red Hook High School student.